Whereas the Emergency Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1935 (Public, No. 412, 73d Cong.), under the heading "Bureau of Internal Revenue" contains the following provision: " Provided , That after December 1, 1934, no part of the appropriation made herein or heretofore made for the fiscal year 1935 shall be used to pay the salary of any person formerly employed as investigator, special agent, senior warehouseman, deputy prohibition administrator, agent, assistant attorney, assistant prohibition administrator, senior investigator, deputy production administrator, storekeeper or gauger, or any other position in the Prohibition Bureau or Alcoholic Beverage Unit, Department of Justice, who was separated from the service of such Bureau or Unit between June 10, 1933, and December 31, 1933, while in any such position in the Treasury Department, unless and until such person shall be appointed thereto as a result of an open, competitive examination to be hereafter held by the Civil Service Commission." Whereas some of the persons who were separated from the Prohibition Bureau or the Alcoholic Beverage Unit of the Department of Justice between June 10, 1933, and December 31, 1933, are not, or may not be, within the age limits which have been or may be fixed upon agreement between the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commission under the authority of paragraph 5 of Civil Service rule V, for any examinations which may be held pursuant to the above-quoted provision; and Whereas it appears that it would be in the public interest to afford all persons affected by the said provision an opportunity for entering such Civil Service examinations: Now, Therefore , by virtue of the authority vested in me by the provisions of the Civil Service Act of January 16, 1883 (ch. 27, 22 Stat. 403), the Civil Service Commission is authorized to waive with respect to all persons who were separated from the Prohibition Bureau or the Alcoholic Beverage Unit of the Department of Justice betw een June 10, 1933, and December 31, 1933, the age limits which have been or may be fixed upon agreement between the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commission under the authority of paragraph 5 of Civil Service rule V, for any examinations which may be held pursuant to the above-quoted provision of the Emergency Appropriation Act, fiscal year, 1935. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, September 22, 1934.
Executive Order 6854—Waiving the Age Limits for Civil Service Examinations in Certain Cases
Executive Brief • At a Glance
The Civil Service Commission is authorized to waive with respect to all persons who were separated from the Prohibition Bureau or the Alcoholic Beverage Unit of the Department of Justice betw een June 10, 1933, and December 31, 1933, the age limits which have been or may be fixed upon agreement between the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commission under the authority of paragraph 5 of Civil Service rule V, for any examinations which may be held pursuant to the above-quoted provision of the Emergency Appropriation Act, fiscal year, 1935.
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 22, 1934, this order concerns Waiving the Age Limits for Civil Service Examinations in Certain Cases. The Civil Service Commission is authorized to waive with respect to all persons who were separated from the Prohibition Bureau or the Alcoholic Beverage Unit of the Department of Justice betw een June 10, 1933, and December 31, 1933, the age limits which have been or may be fixed upon agreement between the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commission under the authority of paragraph 5 of Civil Service rule V, for…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
The Civil Service Commission is authorized to waive with respect to all persons who were separated from the Prohibition Bureau or the Alcoholic Beverage Unit of the Department of Justice betw een June 10, 1933, and December 31, 1933, the age limits which have been or may be fixed upon agreement between the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commission under the authority of paragraph 5 of Civil Service rule V, for any examinations which may be held pursuant to the above-quoted provision of the Emergency Appropriation Act, fiscal year, 1935.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
Policy Areas & Topics
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)
Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)
Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)
The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6854 (Sept. 22, 1934), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6854-waiving-the-age-limits-for-civil-service-examinations-certain-cases.